In this context I would like to share an article by Damon Darlin in New York Times.

Jack Ma, the chief executive of Alibaba Group, stopped by to talk about his plans for Alibaba.com, the Chinese Web site for making business-to-business connections, and Taobao.com, the Chinese answer to eBay.

As a prominent businessman in China, Mr. Ma gets asked a lot about the declining state of the world economy. He said that he was eating at a restaurant recently when the owner recognized him and asked when the recession will be over.

“Next year,” Mr. Ma replied.

The restaurant owner was surprised, Mr. Ma said. “The recession will be over next year?” the man asked.

“No,” said Mr. Ma, “Next year, we’ll all get used to it.”

Mr. Ma thinks the recession is going to last three to five years. “If you don’t accept that, you are in trouble.”

Mr. Ma said he was in the United States looking for partnerships. He thinks that Alibaba could help out-of-work Americans looking to start a small business. A person goes to the site to find suppliers among the directory of about 4.2 million companies. A click of a button next to a listing generates an e-mail asking about prices or samples.

Someone with an idea for a new product could use Alibaba to find a contract manufacturer, said Mr. Ma. They could also use the service to get a prototype built.

At least, he hopes he can appeal to entrepreneurs. He worried that the American dream is dying here. “You don’t see the hope here,” said Mr. Ma. “This time they are waiting for the government.”